


Why Are You So Mad At Me, Bernadette?

by zeenanigans1983



Series: Bertie and Carter [1]
Category: Gossip Girl, Gossip Girl RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Smut, Are there such things?, Bertie and Carter, Carter Baizen Redemption?, Drama, Drama & Romance, Err help?, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Flut, I dunno how to tag yet, Love, Mutual Pining, Pining, RPF, Romance, Smuff, Smut, Will tag as I go along, from enemies to lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 13:56:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19319560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeenanigans1983/pseuds/zeenanigans1983
Summary: Carter Baizen...hmmm where do I even begin? Apart Georgina Sparks, he's probably one of the most interesting characters that left Gossip Girl too early.In any case, I felt compelled to write about him after seeing some YouTube videos apart of course for the massive love I have for Sebastian Stan. :) These will be a series of one shots that will be loosely canon-based. Each story will have it's own summary and ratings and tags may be changed and/or added as each story is published.***Finally! Story #1 for this series! Whoever you are who bookmarked it and got the notification for today's update, I appreciate you and I hope to hear from you!





	Why Are You So Mad At Me, Bernadette?

“What do you mean I’m not—this is ridiculous, I am her-,” the agitated woman jabbed a heavy finger on the resume she was holding up. “Bert—Bernadette Jennings, I am HER, goddamnit!”

The hapless intern looked around her but wasn’t able to find any help from anyone else as they were also busy with their own tasks. The HR firm was especially buzzing that day, her 1st day on the job nonetheless and she was growing anxious by the minute as she needed to get a move on with her own task, if the lengthy email she received from one of the big bosses during the weekend was anything to go by.

A shrill ring of the phone on the now sweating intern’s desk interrupted Bertie’s musings. The blonde receptionist beside her picked it up and gave it to the intern, mumbling an almost incoherent ‘hello’ before proceeding to nod the rest of the way of the call.

“Erm,” clueless intern cleared her throat after putting the phone down. “I’m sorry Miss Jennings; let me escort you to your office now.”

Bertie mumbled a small _thank fuck_ as she let the intern lead her to her office to finally begin her day. She straightened up her back when she saw a tall, broad shouldered man standing with his back to her looking out the window.

Her brow furrowed with curiosity as to who this man was. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something in greeting, he turns around and Bertie swore she felt her heart stop for a nanosecond when she recognized who he was.

 ***

Carter Baizen’s brain was already buzzing with so many ideas on how to bust his new employee’s chops, with the little scene at the reception just the beginning. He and Bernadette ‘Bertie’ Jennings may not have been from the same prep school, but they were such tough, sworn rivals one would think they were actually were schoolmates. She was the queen over at Columbia Prep while Carter was deemed a god among men over at Collegiate. They were always neck and neck during inter-school competitions with Carter just holding a slight edge over Bertie in most contests. It all came to a head one day when, for whatever mysterious reason, an Ivy League university was down to choosing between the two of them to admit to their fold. In the end, it was Bertie who got chosen, leaving Carter to settle for his second choice, eventually dropping out in his sophomore year and traipsing around instead in the Upper East Side messing with the kids over at Constance Billard and nearby St. Jude’s.

That was then, and after getting unceremoniously (also literally) kicked to the curb by Serena van der Woodsen, he decided to get his act together and reclaimed his status in the Upper West Side by making a few sound investments until he was able to save enough to put up his own consulting and headhunting firm 3 years ago.

 

Bertie couldn’t believe her eyes even if it poked her skull. Carter fucking Baizen was who she was gonna work for?! The initials CB and the way she wasn’t told who or what it meant should have tipped her off, but no, she had to be an idiot and blindly accepted the job offer without doing further research on the firm.

Her memories of him were spotty at best and overly murky and annoying at worst. She resented him so much for always one-upping her all throughout high school. Despite getting chosen by Harvard over him, the ill-will remained, like a dull ache at the back of her head she couldn’t relieve herself out of even if she wanted to. She wanted to feel sorry for him when he had to settle for his 2nd best option but was glad she didn’t when she learned he flunked out towards the end of his sophomore year. The cackle that got out of her when Gossip Girl broadcasted how he was dumped by the van der Woodsen girl was so loud nearly everyone in the floor of her dorm room heard her.

“You have got to be fucking shitting with me,” Bertie blurted out as soon as she words flowing back to her brain. She didn’t care that she just got hired and might be fired right away. She knew working for Carter would become her personal living hell on earth.

“Now, now, is that the way to greet your _boss,_ Bertie?” Carter smirked as he emphasized the word ‘boss’ to her. “Shouldn’t you be like, I don’t know, kissing my ass already or something? Besides, it’s been what, 18 years? Are you seriously still mad at me that I beat your ass in high school?”

“I’d rather kiss Trump’s hairy, narcissistic ass than give you the time of day, Baizen. And for the record, you besting me in every single competition back in high school didn’t matter, ask Harvard. But that’s beside the point, why the fuck was I not informed this firm is yours?!”

Jesus, not even two minutes and Bertie was seething already. If she wasn’t a little taken aback by how much better he looked now compared to nearly 2 decades ago, she would’ve stormed out of the room already. She wouldn’t worry about getting another job, she’d most likely have one anyway within the next 48 hours.

But god, how the hell did he become so…arrestingly handsome?! She could almost see the hard planes and muscle definition of his body through his cream colored button up. And those thighs that were being hugged to perfection by his grey pants? Let’s just say her imagination wanted to take off to places Bertie hadn’t thought about ever since breaking up with her fiancé eight months ago. She nearly didn’t want to look at his face straight up as she feared she’d lose all coherent thought when she’d gaze up into those deep pools of sea-blue. But she wanted to and she couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes away. Deep down, she’d always Carter Anthony Baizen had always been handsome, but she’d die first before she admitted that to anyone.

 

Carter chuckled and slowly closed the gap between him and Bertie. He’d always known she had a mouth on her, but he didn’t expect she’d still be as crass as she was eighteen years ago. It was one of the things he liked and hated about her at the same time. He liked that her brazen attitude contrasted with her elite upbringing and that she didn’t care how other would think of her. On the flipside, she was still _the_ Bertie Jennings, the woman still held a reputation of being independent and headstrong, not needing anyone for help for she could get anything she wants through her own terms. He knew she could take care of herself, but god, he hoped she’d allow herself to be vulnerable too sometimes.

Seeing her again now, still tough and strong, he desperately remembered the chance he so desired to be the one to take care of her.

“That’s not the way to talk to your boss, Miss,” he stopped until they were just mere inches from each other. “ _Bertie Jennings._ ”

He could see her swallow a lump while keeping a cool gaze levelled at him. “I’ll talk to you however I want, Carter.”

“You haven’t changed a damn bit, Bertie. Still so feisty.”

The atmosphere in the room seemed to shift as Carter’s voice dropped an octave as he said her name. Sensing the tension, Bertie took a step back but the heel of her shoe got caught in the carpet, causing her to fall backwards. Carter was quick though to grab her by her waist and pull her back up, the force of it making them collide by their chests.

“OW!” Bertie exclaimed before realizing Carter had a tight grip on her. She immediately extricated herself from his grasp and pushed him away.

“Jeez, even a snort to say thanks would have been nice, even from you,” Carter mumbled while smoothing his shirt. “Why the hell are you so mad at me, Bernadette?” When he looked back up, the smug smirk was gone and replaced by something resembling hurt and sadness.

The use of her full first name, coupled with the pain in his voice and expression jarred Bertie she nearly staggered as she whipped her head up towards him. Even she herself couldn’t understand why Carter had always riled her up when, looking back, he hasn’t done anything wrong by her personally.

“Carter,” she responded, an edge of warning in her tone. “Don’t.”

Carter could only shake his head in disappointment. It’ll take a bulldozer to get through to her and it was something he didn’t want to deal with at this time. He cleared his throat and took the folder in the table behind him.

“Here’s your contract, as well as the list of the tasks that have been left behind by the person you just replaced. I expect you to learn them all and catch up in the next two weeks,” he spoke once more, all business like this time. “A staff meeting will happen at 11 am to introduce you to everyone. Board meeting will be at three. If you have any questions, the office phone directory is on the folder as well. Call Derek or my secretary if you need anything.”

The swiftness in with which Carter changed his demeanor amazed and saddened Bertie. On the other hand, she was glad he didn’t push it, but she knew that working in close proximity with him, eventually she’d have to confront her issues with him head on. She nodded her assent at his instructions before taking the proffered folder, thanking him meekly before stepping aside for him to leave.

Bertie felt like a heavy piece of lead was placed upon her shoulders as soon as Carter left her office. She thought he would never see her again and so she forgot all about him and the way she felt towards him. She thought it was just a petty high school thing, but she was surprised the feelings of anger and resentment came back up like it was yesterday.

 _Why am I indeed so mad at him?_ Bertie asked herself. She finally sat in her chair, letting the question sink in until her brain hurt because she didn’t want to admit to herself that deep down she never hated him. It was just way too easy to be bitchy and mean than to acknowledge the fact that she was madly attracted to him.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. The staff meeting was pretty standard, same as with the board. She stole a few glances towards Carter's way, somehow willing him to look back, but he didn't and for that Bertie felt a little bad.

Carter himself wasn't any better. It was supposed to be a day he thought he could catch up with Bertie after all the years of non-contact but apparently how she felt about him hasn't changed. He scolded himself for expecting her to be nice for once and decided that if she wants to be bitchy, he'd let her, like all the other times he had let her back in prep school. Maybe she'd finally tire of being mad at him, maybe she won't and maybe he just wouldn't care at all.

He shook his head vigorously. Not care about Bertie?! Now there's a thought.


End file.
